New reality show a chance for Zook to showcase Illini

John Supinie

Wednesday

Jul 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2008 at 9:27 PM

Illinois coach Ron Zook always looks for ways to connect with recruits, especially those high level players who refers to as "ballers.'' After NCAA rules banned text messaging last year, Zook found another way to get into the homes of some of the best high school players in the country.

Illinois coach Ron Zook always looks for ways to connect with recruits, especially those high level players who refers to as "ballers.''
After NCAA rules banned text messaging last year, Zook found another way to get into the homes of some of the best high school players in the country.
Zook is allowing the Big Ten Network to shoot “Illinois Football: The Journey,” a reality-TV show that will air 13 episodes filled with features and behind-the-scenes access to Illini football. Thanks to the recent agreement with Comcast cable system, the nation's largest cable TV provider, the network's coverage area expanded to include most of Zook's favorite recruiting hot spots, including Chicago, much of downstate Illinois and the loaded Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area.
"They won't let me text,'' Zook said. "Fine. I'm going to get to them another way. I wouldn't have done a reality show if they hadn't had the Comcast deal. Now all the areas, for the most part, that we recruit are going to get it.''
A team that finished 9-4 overall last season and 6-2 in the Big Ten Conference for its first winning season in six years and first Rose Bowl appearance in 24 seasons "has nothing to hide,'' Zook said. Michigan's first season under coach Rich Rodriguez or Purdue's final year behind unorthodox Joe Tiller could also have been must-see TV, but the network went with the league's fastest rising program.
With a camera crew in camp one or two days a week, plus game day, the potential remains for distractions and playing to the camera, but Zook felt the payoffs in recruiting are much greater. After consultation with athletic director Ron Guenther and Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith (the Gophers were featured in a similar show last winter), Zook went ahead with the project.
"If you know me, you know that's not me at all,'' Zook said. "I was against it. My first thought was no. I don't even let them (put a microphone on) me. Coach Guenther said made a point that I always talk about the good kids we have. Let the Illini Nation see that. Are you taking a chance? Yes.
"In any year, any game, you have adversity and problems. How you handle problems and adversity will give you an opportunity to show who you are. I talked to Tubby. He had the same apprehension I had. He really felt like it was a positive thing not just for the program but for recruiting, which for me was the ultimate reason. People are going to have the opportunity to see the good and bad.''
The first Illinois reality show is Sept. 2 at 8:30 p.m., an hourlong episode. Thirty-minute episodes will air each Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with the previous week's show preceding the new episode. Comcast, which serves Peoria, Springfield and Rockford, will launch the network on Aug. 15.
The reality show plans to use two or three cameramen, including one person who will serve as the lead cameraman who will likely build a rapport.
"This isn't a seven-day-a-week project,'' said Bill Friedman, the network's senior feature producer and the man in charge. "You need a certain amount of material. At a certain time, it gives you enough of a glimpse of what you need.''
In the Minnesota project, the network shot 125 hours of footage for an eight-episode run. Editing took about 60 hours per week with the show's production completed by a Dallas company. In Minnesota, the camera crew attended 24 of the 34 games and roughly 30 practices while also traveling with the team on the road.
"You have to follow the story lines that surround the team,'' Friedman said. "You don't do the viewers a service if you ignore those. The wins, the losses. Who is the starting running back? Who are the emerging stars? At the same time, because of the access, you hope you will see things behind the scenes that fans don't normally see.''
The challenge is different, since there are nearly 10 times the players on the Illini football roster than the Minnesota basketball roster.
"I look at it as an opportunity,'' Friedman said. "There are so many people who play, the coaching staff and the support staff. They're all characters.''
Videotaping will begin Aug. 3, when the Illini players and coaches meet the media before camp starts the following day. Indeed, the players will have some fun with it.
"We're going to have to get a translator for Vontae Davis and Donsay Hardeman,'' said Illini linebacker Brit Miller. "No one knows what they're saying.''
But some players are anxious about letting cameras invade their privacy.
"There is a concern'' about players getting too interested in the camera, said center Ryan McDonald. "Coach Zook is concerned about it, too. He feels we have good guys on this team. I think the will to win will overshadow the desire to get your face on TV. It could create a potential distraction.
"It will be different having them in places we like to keep to ourselves.''
But it will also put the Illini in the homes of key recruits, and that's a place Zook wants to be.
John Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com.

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